U.S. Kills al Qaeda’s Top Military Commander

Abdullah Said al Libi is dead.

Bill Roggio

January 7, 2010 11:22 AM

Al Qaeda has taken credit for the suicide attack that killed seven CIA operatives, including a station chief, and a Jordanian intelligence operative. In a statement released on the Internet, Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan, said the attack was to "avenge" the leaders and "brothers" of al Qaeda and the Taliban killed in the U.S. airstrikes in Pakistan.

But the media is missing the bigger story in Yazid’s speech (for instance, see this report at Reuters). Al Qaeda has confirmed that Abdullah Said al Libi the leader of the Lashkar al Zil, or the Shadow Army, the terror group's military organization along the Afghan and Pakistani border was among those killed. Al Libi is one of al Qaeda’s most senior commanders and was behind al Qaeda most brazen and deadly attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. For more on al Libi, his successor, Ilyas Kashmiri, and the Lashkar al Zil, see this report at The Long War Journal.